Teenage Kicks
by IWishIWasAMermaid
Summary: 10 teenagers. 5 girls. 5 guys. 1 house. 2 weeks. It all adds up to some major drama. Loliver. Jiley.
1. You're Going To Freak

**So I've had a few things going on, hence my sudden (and lengthy) disappearance. Hopefully it'll all be okay from now on, and I hope you've all been able to bear with me. Anyway, I want to start this story, and When In Rome will be updated tomorrow. Or Monday. One of those days. I also have a one-shot in mind, so that will hopefully be up within the week. I totally plan on making up for all the time I've lost!**

**Anyway, you can ask why I've been AWOL if you want, but I'd prefer to just cut this note short, and get on with the story. If you've read any of my Phil of the Future fanfiction, then you may know that I've written a story like this for that category too, but I had so much fun writing that, and I want to recreate that here. It will have major differences though, so don't be put off by that. **

**Enough of the bold text now... so here's the story. I hope you guys like it. :D**

I was sitting, minding my own business in French class, when it hit me. Literally. Now I'm not a highly academic student, and I'll be the first to admit it, so I wasn't exactly paying much attention to Ms. Whats-er-face and her conju-who-ha verbs. I was paying way more attention to the hair of the person sat in front of me, to be honest, but still - I don't think that I deserve to be hit in the head by a flying piece of paper.

Turning around in my seat, I found Miley staring at me, motioning for me to pick up the ball that had disrupted my very nice daydream by whacking me in the back of the head. I rolled my eyes, directing a quick glance at the teacher before leaning down and scooping it up, unfolding it in front of me. It better be important, otherwise she's knocked like, ten brain cells out of my head, for nothing.

_Stop staring at the back of Oliver's head._

Oh yeah. That was worth losing ten brain cells over. Of course it was. I wanted to reply, and tell her exactly what I thought about her hurling accusations at me - literally, might I add - but Ms. Something-or-other turned around to face us, and I didn't have a chance to scrawl a reply and throw it back.

Stare at Oliver's head. Yeah, right. I wasn't staring at the back of his head... I was merely daydreaming, and the back of his head just so happened to be where my gaze landed. Uh-huh.

I looked up at the board, trying to make sense of the language that was written there. Okay, how does anyone understand a word of French? It's foreign. Which yes, is the point, but whatever. And you know what else I don't understand? Do French people actually _think_ in French? Do they sit in English class, and think about guys in French? I don't even know how to say 'guys' in French.

Ouch!

I spun around to see Miley motioning to the floor again, where another paper ball sat, looking all innocent. Rolling my eyes again, I quickly picked it up, and unscrunched it, looking down at what it said.

_You're going to freak._

I'm sorry. What is the point in throwing a paper ball AT MY HEAD and only write four words on it? Four words that mean nothing to me, might I add. FREAK ABOUT WHAT? THE FACT THAT SHE KEEPS HURLING PAPER BALLS AT MY HEAD?

Seeing as this note made no sense, I figured that there was another coming my way, and made sure that I was ready for it. Though how I'd be ready with my back toward Miley, I don't know. I was just ready for it, okay?

Sure enough, minutes later, I felt another ball hit the back of my chair. At least it wasn't aimed at my head this time. I bent down and picked it up, hoping that this one was slightly more informative, and slightly less annoying.

_Teenage Kicks is looking for new contestants. Here, in Malibu. I saw it on the news this morning. I totally think we should audition._

I sat up, reading the note over again, before turning around to Miley, and looking at her as though she were insane. Which, considering she'd just thrown three paper balls at me to inform me of something that she could have told me once class was over, she probably was. Was she actually being serious? She wanted to audition for a show that basically took ten kids into a house, and humiliated them on national television? Who, in their right mind, actually wants to do that?

"Lilly! Tourner et faire l'attention!" A screech from the front of the class came, and I hasitly turned around in my chair, looking at the woman who was staring at me as though she wanted to hurt me. I had no idea what she'd just said, but it didn't sound like she was telling me that she liked my hat.

After a few seconds of her staring at me, and me looking back in fear of my life, she turned back to the board, and began talking about verbs again. I let out a silent sigh of relief, and smiled at Oliver, who'd spun around for a second to look at me. He smiled back, just before looking back at the front of the room.

Okay, I'm listening. I'm actually listening now. Because Ms. Psycho-teacher will probably like, kill me, if I don't pay attention, and that would be bad. Very bad.

Right. So... verbs. In French. Verbs are like, doing words, right? So 'go' is a verb. What's 'go' in French? Do people in France even say 'go'? Well duh, of course they don't, because it's a different language... oh my gosh, I'm confusing myself. I'm just not cut out to be able to speak French.

Sliding down in my chair, I looked back at Oliver's head, sighing. Only twenty more minutes, and then I'd be out, and I could talk to Miley about her insane decision to want to audition for Teenage Kicks. I mean seriously, what is wrong with that girl? She's already Hannah flipping Montana. What, is she fame-hungry or something?

My train of thought was cut off again, with yet another ball bouncing off my head. I turned around to look at Miley, a furious expression on my face, but she had looked back at the board, and was now ignoring me. Picking up the paper, I put it on the desk in front of me, silently cursing Miley and her amazing aim. Hadn't anyone else in the class noticed that I'd been hit on the head like four times with a paper ball? Then again, it was French class. They're all asleep.

_What did I say about staring at Oliver?_

ARGH.

Scrunching up the ball again, I flung it on the floor. She's really very annoying sometimes.

---

"I'm not doing it Miley," I stated, sliding into one of the seats in the cafeteria, putting my tray of mystery meat onto the table. "Teenage Kicks is a show that dedicates it's airtime to showing America how stupid teenagers are. Now excuse me, but I'd rather not be one of those teenagers that get shown up on television. It's bad enough embarrassing myself in front of the kids at school. I don't want to embarrass myself in front of America."

Miley made a frustrated sound as she sat down opposite me. "You will not embarrass yourself. And you watch the show all the time! How is it okay to embarrass those kids, but not you?"

I picked up the fork and stabbed it into the meat. Just to, you know, make sure that it was actually dead. You never know what this school is willing to serve you. "Because they're stupid enough to audition for the show. I, however, am not, and so shall be the one sat at home laughing at those stupid enough to go on a show where they will inevitably be embarrassed."

"That sentence was way too long," Oliver said, sitting down in the seat next to me, and then staring down in disgust at the food on his tray. "Who makes this stuff?"

Miley shrugged, and then looked back at me. "Come on Lilly! You know that it'll be a laugh, and if we're all on it together, then it'll be way more fun. Plus, we don't even know if we'll get in. I'd be willing to bet that they don't think we're weird enough."

I looked over at Oliver, hoping that he didn't join the argument on Miley's side. I could win an argument against one of them, but both of them? I didn't stand a chance. Especially not an argument against Oliver. I never win any against him. "Miley, think about what you just said."

"Fine." She looked at me, a totally unamused expression on her face. "Don't even consider it. Don't even consider the fact that it could be a great experience, and just shoot the idea down without even thinking properly about it."

I picked up on the sarcasm. Really, I did. But there's nothing that infuriates Miley more, than taking her sarcasm literally. "Alright then. I'm glad we sorted that out. Makes me feel so much better about things." And then I prodded the meat with my fork once more, for good luck.

"You're so unbelievably annoying sometimes," Miley said, which was ironic, seeing as I'd thought pretty much the same thing when she'd been firing paper balls at my head. At least I'd had a valid reason for thinking that. "Oliver! You think that it's a good idea, don't you? Tell Lilly, that auditioning for Teenage Kicks will be totally fun, and that we'll have a good time if we get picked."

I rolled my eyes. "Because that isn't putting words into his mouth is it?"

Miley just shot me a glance that told me to shut up, and then looked back over at Oliver, who was looking totally bemused by the whole situation.

"Um... I guess..." he shrugged, which gave me the impression that he had no idea what he was agreeing to. Which, if you think about it, makes the whole scenario totally unfair. If he is to make an unbiased decision, he needs to know what he's making a decision about. That's only fair.

"See!" Miley said, looking at me as though I couldn't possibly refuse after Oliver had (sort of) agreed with her. She obviously doesn't know me all that well. "Oliver thinks that it's a good idea. I don't see what problem is."

I rolled my eyes and looked at Oliver. "Really? So you believe that getting locked in a house for two weeks, while the whole of America watches you utterly humiliate yourself, is a good idea? You think that not being able to have any privacy for two whole weeks is an awesome idea, do you?"

Oliver looked back at me intently, and for a second I forgot what my point was. But it was back in the next second, and I was listening to his reply. "I think... you're exaggerating. And I think that it'll be a laugh auditioning. If we get in, then we can discuss it, but what's the harm in auditioning? Like Miley says, we probably won't get in anyway. They like incredibly weird people."

Ugh. How can he agree with her? Why does he want to go on national television and humiliate himself? How can he want to spend two weeks in a house with a bunch of complete strangers? Although... spending two weeks in a house with Oliver seems strangely appealing. WAIT. NO. NO IT DOESN'T. THAT WAS AN ODD THOUGHT.

"Plus, like I'd let you get humiliated," Oliver said, looking at me.

I hate my friends, and their incredible persuading techniques. Pulling a face, I stared at my food, not wanting to look at either of them. I wanted to stand my ground for as long as possible. Although if Oliver kept saying stuff like that, it'd last for all of two seconds.

Miley folded her arms, and looked at me hopefully. "Please?"

I threw my fork down, and shrugged. I was going to regret this. I just knew it. "Fine. Whatever."

"Yes!" Miley cried, punching the air, and grinning at the both of us. "It'll be fun. And I'll say it again, but they're looking for really weird people."

Not looking up at either of my friends, who were now discussing what they thought the audition would be like, I picked my fork back up, and poked it into the meat - which I'm happy to report, was definitely dead. "And that's supposed to make me feel better? If they be looking for weird people, they'll love us."

**And so there you have it. First chapter. Tell me what you think about it, and I'll maybe write another chapter for you.**


	2. Pretty Good TV

"I cannot believe that you are making me do this." Okay, so I'd said the same thing at least twelve times today, but that was beside the point. I really could not believe that my two best friends had woken me up at nine in the morning to drag me out to some auditions that I didn't even want to go to, and so the repetition of my disbelief was just to make sure that they understood how I felt. I think that they got the message. And if they didn't, then they were more dense than I thought.

Miley just rolled her eyes at me, as she had done the last time I said it. And the time before that. And the other times before that. She obviously wasn't impressed with my comments.

We were sat in a huge room full of weird-looking teenagers who all wanted a chance to be on TVs most embarrassing show. Well... almost. Even arriving at nine-thirty in the morning hadn't put us to the front of the queue (so much for my get-in-and-go plan) and waiting for the ninety-five people in front of Miley was like some cruel and unusual torture. Hello, I didn't even want to be here. Not that much anyway.

"Come on Miley, it isn't too late to leave now. And then, when it comes on TV, we can laugh about our narrow escape from utter humiliation. Doesn't that sound good?" I turned to Oliver, who was too busy attempting to attract the attention of the girl sitting on the other side of him, and rolled my eyes. No point in trying to persuade him to do something while he was trying to flirt. Trying being the key word in that sentence.

"Utter humiliation?" A blonde girl overheard me, and it was plainly obvious that she wasn't in agreement with what I'd just said. Though really, I don't care, because she shouldn't be listening in on other people's conversations. Did we ask her? No. And I didn't even care what she thought. She could humiliate herself all she wanted, as long as I was sat at home laughing at her. "You mean like turning up to an audition wearing that?"

Wow. I hope she does get picked. And made to eat something incredibly disgusting that makes her puke all over herself on national television. "That wasn't what I meant, but that's okay. I think you have fashion disaster covered."

I turned back to Miley, who now had a smile on her face, and looked at her expectantly. She still hadn't answered my plea to leave, and just because some blonde airhead had interrupted, didn't mean I was going to forget about it.

"We're not leaving Lilly. You said that you'd give this a go, and you can't go back on that. I highly doubt that we're going to get in anyway, because there are at least two-hundred people here."

I opened my mouth to reply, but a woman stepped out of the room where the auditions were taking place and consulted her clipboard before shouting: "Ninety-six. Miley Stewart!"

Miley grinned and stood up, nodding at Oliver before walking over to the woman and disappearing into the room.

I groaned and sat back. I was next, which was a very scary thought, especially as I had no idea what to do or say. But that didn't matter, right? Wrecking my audition was unimportant. I didn't even want this. I didn't.

---

"Please state your name, age, and where you're from for the camera." A scary looking man was sitting next to a video camera and a woman was hovering behind it. Only two people in the room. That wasn't totally bad. I could handle two people.

"Um... I'm Lilly Truscott, sixteen years old, and I was born here in Malibu." Simple.

The woman gave a small smile before stepping forward a little. "So Lilly, tell us a bit about yourself. Brothers, sisters, friends, relationships, hobbies..."

I had no idea where to even begin, even though talking about me is my best subject. Who else am I going to talk about? I am my best subject. I can talk about me for hours on end, in the right company. Two strangers who recruit for some stupid reality TV show are not the right company.

"Well... my mom is an event planner. My dad is a doctor. I have one younger brother, Mike, and he's as annoying as hell. But what I lack in brotherly/sisterly love, I make up for in friendship. I love my friends, which is why I'm here. I can't seem to say no to Oliver... and Miley."

There was only a two second pause between saying Oliver's name, and then adding Miley's, and that was merely due to a total lapse in concentration. Obviously. But that was enough. The glance that passed between scary man and lady was only two seconds long, but I caught it. And I knew what they were thinking. There was only one thing to do - talk my way out of it.

"They're both my best friends in the entire world, even if Oliver is stupid sometimes. We go surfing together sometimes, because Miley can't skate or surf. I've known Ollie forever, so we're almost like brother and sister. But Oliver is hardly very good at shopping, so me and Miley do that sort of thing together."

I have no idea if that worked. Hopefully it did, because two best friends in denial about their love? Yeah, it would make pretty good TV. Even though we aren't. In denial about our love. There is no love to be in denial about. So they'd be wrong. We wouldn't make good TV at all.

The woman turned to me, and I could tell that she was getting ready to wrap it up. Miley had only been in the room for a few minutes, so I guess they were trying to get through as many people as possible in a short amount of time. Worked for me. Getting out of this room pronto was on my list of things to do in the near future.

"So Lilly, one last question. Why are you here today, and what do you hope to get out of the Teenage Kicks experience?"

I have no idea what came over me in that moment. Suddenly I knew exactly what to say and exactly how to say it. Which was especially weird, considering that before that moment I'd had no idea what to say to any of their questions. But now I did.

"Actually, I didn't want to come here. My friends roped me into it using their amazing persuasion techniques. Thinking about it now though, I realise that my objections were based on things like being humiliated on national television - because lets face it, your show thrives on embarrassing its contestants - and I couldn't see the appeal to that. But I won't be humiliated on TV if I don't let myself be. And Miley and Oliver were right. Being in a house, with people I adore (and some that I don't, but they don't matter) would be fun. It's definitely not something that every teenager gets the chance to do, right?" I shrugged as I finished talking, looking from the man to the woman. They looked slightly taken aback. I guess not many people had told them that they had a show that lived on embarrassing people. Even though that was true. Oh well.

After a few seconds of silence, the woman sprung back into action. "Right. Well, thank you Lilly. We'll contact you soon."

I smiled, and slid down from the chair that I'd been sitting on, thanking them before walking out of the room.

Miley and Oliver looked up at me as I sat back down, expecting me to tell them how it went. Yeah. Right. I just collapsed into my seat, wondering where the hell that final speech came from.

"Ninety-eight. Oliver Oken."

I looked at Oliver as he stood up, surprised to find him looking back at me. "Good luck Oken." And if they ask about me and you, all I said is that we were friends. But that last part went unsaid, and he just nodded before disappearing into the room.

The faces of the man and woman as I left the room floated back into my head, and I suddenly got a very bad feeling about it all. Despite what I said in front of the camera, I still didn't particularly want to be picked. Watching it at home was preferable. But they looked at me as though they could see me in the house already. And that scared me.

Turning to Miley, I frowned at her. "I cannot believe you made me do this."

**So I'm sorry it's so sucky. I've been trying to write it for days, and this seems like the best it's gonna be.**

**I've been AWOL because my computer decided that it had had enough of life, and so committed suicide. So I had to get a brand new one, which is working much better. Hopefully this one won't die on me. **

**Anyhow, I'll be updating more often noww. **


	3. It Was Bad News

**Yeah... computers suck. I had this amazingly awesome chapter all written out, and then I open the document up this morning and find that it's deleted all but a paragraph of it. And technology is supposed to make things easier. So this isn't as good as I wanted it to be, but I think I remembered everything that I liked about the other one. I think.**

**And! I forgot to say in the last chapter, but in order to prep for the audition for Lilly, I actually wrote out the Miley and Oliver auditions. It made the writing process easier for me. So if you'd like to read them (and feel no obligation, because if nobody does I'll just delete them anyway) then just say so in a review, and I'll PM them to you. No problem! **

**Anyway, yeah... here goes. **

It was a week later when the phone rang.

Well... the phone had obviously rung before in that week, because we aren't social rejects, but those phone calls were of no significance. Just my grandma telling me that we needed to go and visit her in Florida sometime soon. Unimportant.

But it was a week after the audition, that the phone rang with actual news about the show that I had single-handedly managed to get myself on, and all because I had a big problem with keeping my big mouth shut. Why did I have to go and say something that made me stand out from the rest of the crowd? Why? What was going through my head?

I'll tell you what was going through my head: nothing. I wasn't thinking. Because had I been thinking, I'd have realised what a bad idea it was to sound impressive when I didn't want to be chosen. So I evidently wasn't thinking.

It was bad news.

I had been selected.

The woman on the phone didn't cut to the chase or anything. She just came out with it as soon as I had confirmed that I was, indeed, Lilly Truscott. Told me that I had been selected to be in the house, that the 'experience' would take place in a week's time and that I'd be getting a letter delivered to my house within the next few hours with the rules and necessary items to pack. Then she hung up. No chance to protest, or tell her that I'd been having second thoughts. I was in. And that was that.

Naturally it took Miley less than five minutes to be on the phone, screaming that she'd got in and had I? I had to hold the phone away from my ear for at least ten minutes before I could even start talking.

"Yeah, I got in," I said, still in shock. It wasn't the shock of actually being picked either. It was the shock of actually being put in a house, with my two best friends... wait. Miley had been picked - hello, the citizens of England had heard that she'd gotten in - but what about... what about Oliver? Did he get picked? I hope so. Not that I'm entertaining the prospect of being in a house with no parents and me and Oliver. I just want to know that if I'm going to be living a nightmare for two whole weeks then I'll have some sort of comfort in my two best friends being there with me. Oliver included.

Miley was now rambling on about all the things that we could do together in the house, and how it would be 'the most awesome fun in the world', and I let her carry on, adding a few 'uh-huhs' in the right places. At least, I think they were the right places. I don't know.

What if Oliver didn't get picked? What if it's just me and Miley - plus a few other complete strangers - in a big house together for two whole weeks? That would be... okay. I guess.

Don't get me wrong, I love Miley to death. She's like my sister. But having her as my only sane anchor to the world? It's not really something that I can rely on. She'll be too busy running around and having 'fun'. Which, while I appreciate the fact that this is something she wanted to do, doesn't really appeal to me all that much.

But I want him there. I don't know why, but I do.

"Hey Miles?" I said, cutting her off and trying to be casual about asking my question. Not that I needed to try to be casual, because I was casual. It's only Oliver. "Did Oliver get picked?"

Miley was silent for a few seconds before replying, though I don't know why. It was probably my imagination anyway. "I don't know. You were the first person I thought about calling."

Figures. She'd probably be the first person I'd call too, should I need to speak to someone. But I feel like I need to know if Oliver got in. If he didn't... well, I might as well exclude myself from the whole thing now. Getting publicly humiliated just won't be worth it. "Hey Miley, I want to know if Oliver got in, so I'm gonna call him. Why don't you come over? Mom won't mind."

"Yay! Okay, I'll be there in about ten minutes, okay? Tell Oliver to come too, if he got in. We can discuss awesome plans for the house." Miley sounds so incredibly thrilled by this that I don't have the heart to tell her that no amount of planning amazing things is going to make me look forward to doing this.

After hanging up, I immediately call Oliver, his number being number two on my speed-dial. He's second only to Miley, who I find myself calling more than him. Weirdly for him he answers almost instantly; usually he's running around his room trying to find his cell phone, only to find that he put it in his shoe, or some other obscure place, the night before. Yeah, he's an odd one.

"Hey Lilly!"

Okay, so he sounds cheerful. Is that a good thing? Is that a bad thing? And what's good and what's bad? Because what's bad for me may be amazingly good for him, and vice versa. So good could be bad and bad could be good. Or... something.

"Oken! Has that deranged woman called you yet and let you know whether you're in the House of Hell?" I asked, trying to sound joke-y, even though my heart was pounding. I needed to know. Like now, thanks.

It took a mere one second for Oliver to reply, and luckily, it was the reply that I wanted. "Actually, I got in. What about you? Oh my god, you didn't get in, did you? You sound too happy to have gotten in. Well if you didn't get in, I won't go, because what fun would that be?"

Involuntarily a smile spread across my face when he said that he wouldn't go without me, but I quickly realised what I was doing and shook it off. I was just smiling because my best friend got in. Duh. "I'm in. I wasn't looking forward to it, but if you're in I guess it makes it a bit better..." I paused, waiting for him to say something else. Oh yeah, he probably wants to know about Miley. "Uh, Miley got accepted too."

Oliver cleared his throat and finally spoke. "Well that's good. We're going to have fun. It'll be awesome."

"Yeah. Hey, Miley's coming over here to 'make plans' - which sounds totally riveting and I wouldn't want you to miss out on the fun. You want to head over here?"

"Sure!" Oliver sounded actually enthusiastic, which was odd. As if you would. "I'll be over there in five."

I laughed. "Miley said ten. Is it a race now?"

"Ah, but she left her house five minutes ago. I only have five minutes to get there, otherwise she'll accuse me of being late."

He had a point. "Okay. Well then Oken, I'll be seeing you in a few."

Hanging up the phone for the third time in fifteen minutes, I looked down at it for a few seconds, processing all the information that I'd been given. I was in. I was going to spend two weeks, in a house with a bunch of complete strangers. And Miley.

And Oliver.

Two weeks.

In a house.

With Miley.

And Oliver...


	4. Oh My God

**Okay so I know a LOT of you wanted to read the Oliver/Miley auditions, which is why I've decided to (when LJ is letting me log on) link you to there. I got a massive response and a) it would take me FOREVERRR to send them to all of you, and b) knowing me, I'd forget one of you and I really don't want to do that. So I'll link you to them the next time I put up a chapter, seeing as I'm writing this after writing the below. **

**Oh. And 'When In Rome' is on hiatus for a while. There are only a few more chapters to be put up, but I don't have time to write those right now as well as write this one. Plus I have a gazillion other story ideas popping around in my head that I'm itching to get out there. I'll let you know when it's off hiatus (though it should be pretty obvious when I've updated it, right?) and you can read it then. **

"You have everything?" My mom asked for the hundredth time in about as many seconds. I think that she was about as happy as I was that I was about to enter a house where I knew nobody, and where everyone in America would be able to watch me eating, sleeping and just living my life in general. They'd be able to hear everything that I was saying, which just meant that I'd be monitoring what I was saying at all times. Fun. How was I going to survive? Miley may be used to watching what she says. I'm more of a 'say-the-first-thing-that-comes-into-your-head' type of person. Believe me, I've insulted enough people in that way before.

I nodded, not even bothering to roll my eyes like I'd done beforehand. Seriously, there's only so much eye-rolling you can do before even that becomes too much effort. "Yes mom, I have everything. And don't worry, you'll be able to check that I'm alright all the time. There are cameras everywhere in that house. Except in the bathrooms... because eew."

Mom sighed and hugged me, again for the hundred-and-first occasion in a very short amount of time. "I'm going to miss you hun. But you're going to be okay, yes? Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I'll be absolutely fine mom. As I said, you can check all the time on TV. Miley and Oliver are there with me, so I'll be totally fine. It's only two weeks. And I'll totally have conversations with you every night, even if you can't talk back." I smiled at her, avoiding the last question. Especially seeing as I still wasn't sure how to answer it. A part of me did want to do this. And then there was the part that was telling me that something was going to go wrong. Something always went wrong where we were concerned, and this time we'd have the entire population of the USA watching us as it went down.

The buzzer sounded above me, telling us that we had to convene at the front of the building that would be our home (or prison, depending on how you looked at it) for the next two weeks. After hugging my dad briefly, and then getting smothered by my mom again, I broke away and walked over to Oliver who was saying goodbye to his parents. Miley bounded over to join us as we started walking to where we were supposed to meet.

"Isn't this so exciting?" She asked, and she was being totally serious. And while it was slightly exciting, it would probably be better described as nauseating. Or nerve-wracking. Or totally scary beyond belief. Yeah, that would describe it better.

I didn't actually recognise any of the other people standing outside the house, but then again, I hadn't expected to. Out of everyone else in Malibu, what were the chances that we'd know everyone else picked? Hell, out of everyone in Malibu, what were the chances that we - me, Oliver and Miley - were chosen as three of the ten that would make the best TV? I'd say the chances were pretty low. Yet here we were, waiting to be locked in a house for two weeks. Fun, fun, fun.

"Welcome! Now, we're going to introduce our participants one at a time. When we call your name, we'd like you to walk up the stairs and enter the house. In order to open the main door, press your palm to the control - that will open the door for you and you'll be let in. Once you are all inside, we shall announce the surprise guest that we've managed to persuade to take part this year, and then the fortnight shall begin!" The presenter wasn't looking at us; he was too busy grinning stupidly at the camera which was transmitting the image to a whole lot of households around the country. Great. Just stinkin' brilliant. Can't wait.

Miley was grinning like an idiot next to me, and I stole a glance at Oliver to see his reaction. At least his face looked slightly like how I imagined mine to be. Unsure whether to laugh at the stupidity of it all, or be totally intimidated by the seriousness of everyone.

"So without further ado, here are our contestants! First up we have Brittany Walsh! Sixteen years old and originally born in Los Angeles, Brittany's hobbies include cheerleading, singing and shopping!" The blonde haired girl that had attempted to insult me at the auditions stepped forward and began to climb the stairs to the door. Great. So she had gotten in. How awesome would this fortnight be?

"Next up we have Dylan Razner! Seventeen year old Dylan plays basketball and soccer, and has won various sporting competitions. He says he's looking forward to meeting new people in this house!" A sporty looking guy followed Brittany up and into the house, the TV cameras following his every move as he did so.

"Crystal Amstell is up next, and she's a seventeen year old girl from New York City. She loves acting and has appeared in several TV commercials. She says that this experience will show people what she's capable of. Crystal Amstell everyone!" Another platinum blonde girl ran up the stairs, the excitement showing on her face. Ugh, was everyone in this house going to look like they'd just jumped off an episode of The OC? I mean, I adore The OC and all, but at least that wasn't real life...

"Adam Zimmerman! Adam is an artist, has lived in Malibu his whole life and is usually found reading a comic. He's already said that he'll probably draw all of the other contestants - hopefully they'll all like his cartoons of them!" Okay so even this guy has a slight resemblance to Seth Cohen. Not as adorably cute, but hello - he's practically the character. Ugh, this is going to be terrible.

"Charlotte McAllister! Charlotte has already confessed to bringing all of the Harry Potter books with her for some light reading throughout the fortnight, and says that she absolutely despises shopping. Charlotte McAllister!" A plain looking girl moved away from us, leaving only four of us left below. Which didn't quite add up.

"Ryan Foster! Ryan has broken ten bones in his body, all in various skateboarding accidents, yet that doesn't stop him from getting back on the board. He's a native Malibu citizen and wants to meet some 'cool dudes' in the house." The guy standing next to Miley grinned at us and then walked toward the stairs before jumping up them two at a time. So if there's three guys who have just gone into the house... and only Oliver left... what?

"Miley Stewart! She's our very own Southern Belle and moved to Malibu only recently. Her metaphors had us in stitches and her idol is megastar Hannah Montana. She's coming into the house with her two best friends, and is just looking to have fun!" Miley squeals at me and then runs forward to climb up the stairs and enter the house. I watch her wave at Mr. Stewart before disappearing through the door.

"Oliver Oken is up next! Lived in Malibu his whole life, he likes surfing, skateboarding and girls - which is just as well seeing as his two best friends are girls! He says he gets along with just about everyone; a skill that will definitely come in handy in the house." Oliver shoots a glance at me before heading over to the steps and climbing up them.

Well, it was just my luck to be the last one in wasn't it? Is it too late to run now? What could Miley and Oliver do about it if I ran now? Nothing.

They just wouldn't speak to me again after.

"And finally we have Lilly Truscott! She was also born here, and loves the beach, her friends and surfing. Her best friends are Oliver Oken and Miley Stewart, and apparently, with the trouble that they get up to, they'll be our very own three musketeers. Give it up for Lilly Truscott!" I looked over my shoulder to where my mom was waving, and then followed the path that the others had taken up to the door.

I pressed my palm to the control and let myself in, taking one more glance at the outside world before I closed the door on everything. Leaning against it slightly I took a deep breath before turning around and opening the other door that led into the actual house.

"LILLY! LILLY! LILLY! THIS IS IT! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?" Miley screeched, practically jumping on me when I walked in. Everyone else was standing around awkwardly - I guess we were the only three to be picked that actually knew each other - and just watching the insane girl that was now bouncing around Oliver.

A booming voice echoed around the room before I could even think of how to tell Miley to calm down, and she stopped bouncing instantly. I need to figure out how to get a booming voice then. If it's that effective.

"And now... ladies and gentlemen... we have one last surprise for you. For those who are able to do math, you'll realise that we only have four boys in the house as we speak. That won't be the case for much longer. We managed to pull some strings this year, and our last house guest is even more special than we ever imagined. He's famous. You know his name, and he needs no big introduction. All you need to know is that he's here, he's staying for a fortnight, and that his name is Jake Ryan!"

The screams around the room from Brittany and Crystal echoed in my ears as I stood, my eyes wide. Looking over at Miley, I saw that her pose was the same as mine. No more bouncing then. I glanced over at Oliver, and he looked at me and shrugged. Were they being serious? Seriously? Jake Ryan?

My rhetorical question was answered only seconds later, when the door opened and in walked a very familiar face. Because we'd seen him enough times before. On TV and in person.

Miley stared at him, her mouth opening and closing a few times. Then she looked at me and sighed audibly. "Oh my God."

Well. This should be _very_ interesting.


	5. Two Possible Scenarios

**Sorry it took so long! Link to the Miley/Oliver auditions is in my profile. As is my LiveJournal, should any of you want to add me on there. And please don't be confused by the new penname. It's still me. Haha.**

Miley stared at him, her mouth opening and closing a few times. Then she looked at me and sighed audibly. "Oh my God."

Well. This should be _very_ interesting.

The bodiless voice didn't care that Miley was frozen to the spot, or that Jake seemed to be just as surprised to see Miley standing in front of him. It just kept speaking, telling us again about the many rules that we'd already been informed of. "Each day you will be assigned a job to do within the house, be it cooking, setting the table or doing the washing up. Not everyone will have to do a job every day, but you will each have to do a job at some point in the fortnight. On Friday nights, a pizza will be delivered, and you will all have the night off. Apart from the kitchen jobs, you are permitted to do anything else, within reason."

I'm not sure who exactly was listening to the voice drone on and on. Miley was staring at Jake in shock. Jake was staring back at Miley, his expression mirroring the look on my best friend's face. I was watching them both, not knowing whether to be amused or horrified. Oliver looked as though he were having the same inner dilemma. Brittany and Crystal were still squealing in admiration at the appearance of this celebrity. Dylan, Adam and Ryan were looking marginally impressed. Even the Harry Potter girl looked awed.

"And with that final word, we'd like to wish you a good fortnight! Remember, the cameras are picking up your every move, so don't do anything that we wouldn't!" With a final buzz, the speakers turned themselves off, and silence spread in front of us. Well, it would have been silence, had the blonde bimbos in the corner not been screeching. Couldn't they just shut up already?

Jake was the first person to speak. "Miley..."

"Jake..." she said, obviously too speechless to think up something original. Ugh. I was going to have to intervene.

Stepping forward to stand next to both of them, I tried to make my voice as enthusiastic as possible. "Okay, so now that we've reminded ourselves of each other's names... why don't we look around?"

"Good idea Lilly!" Oliver said, with too much excitement for him not to be faking. He'd obviously picked up on the potential awkwardness of the situation. "Let's introduce ourselves first though. Hey everyone. I'm Oliver."

As I looked around, I could tell that everyone else in the room was wondering what the hell was going on. If I wasn't in on the whole thing, I'd be wondering what the hell was going on, so I don't really blame them. But I might as well pretend to be normal while I still can, right? "I'm Lilly. Really looking forward to two weeks of this, by the way."

"Ryan." He obviously figured out that there was no way he'd ever understand what was actually going on, and I appreciated that. "And it looks like it's going to be interesting, doesn't it?"

The others began to say their names, hints of confusion still in their voices. Once we'd gotten around pretty much everyone in the room, and were just about to move onto the squealing girls, the atmosphere had become much less tense.

"I'm Brittany. And to be quite honest, I'd expected more of this house." She'd finally stopped squealing, and was now turning her nose up at everything. Everything besides Jake, that is.

I hated her already.

"I'm Crystal. You may recognise me from some commercials on TV. My most well known was the Subway commercial. I was the girl who ordered the sub." Crystal looks so proud of this, that I have to hide a laugh. Well, don't we all feel inferior now? We're practically in the presence of acting royalty.

One look to my left though, and I'm reminded that we kind of are...

He seemed to get over his shock right then, and turned toward the rest of the group. I noticed his reluctance to drag his gaze away from Miley. "As I'm sure you all gathered, I'm Jake. Actually, I agreed to come on this show to try and prove to people that I'm a normal person, and hopefully you'll all help me show that."

Aww. Maybe he really does want to change.

Miley snapped back into life at that point, obviously hearing what Jake had said. "And I'm Miley. Sorry about all of that... me and Jake just have a... history..."

"Understatement of the century much?" It left my lips before I could stop it, and I could feel the glare from Miley. "Sorry."

This caused another silence, as every other teenager in the room wondered what sort of history Miley and Jake had. And for the four of us who knew, we were wondering what sort of things were going through the other people's minds. At least... that's what I was doing. Naturally, I can't speak for Oliver, Miley and Jake. They have mouths. They can speak for themselves.

"Let's go look around then," Adam piped up, and I sighed with relief, kind of glad that I hadn't been given the job of filling awkward silences. Because seriously, had I been given that job, I would want a new one. And I'd want a new one now.

Excitement bubbled up around the room as six teenagers ran out of the main living area, to explore the rest of the place that we'd be staying for the next fourteen days. Jake hesitated, watching Miley for a reaction, though I'm not quite sure what reaction he wanted from her. After only a few seconds, he obviously decided to leave the inevitable conversation until later, and followed everyone else out of the room.

"Well that was a twist that I don't think anyone was expecting," Oliver said, walking forward to stand next to me.

Miley sighed and looked from me to Oliver. "Oh my god, what am I going to do? I can't spend two weeks in a house with him!"

Oh, how the tables have turned. In usual circumstances, I wouldn't hesitate in pointing out how ironic it all was. I was the one that didn't want to come in fear of embarrassing myself, Miley is the one who will probably get embarrassed. Not that I want her getting embarrassed. Hence the fact that I didn't point it out. It wouldn't make her feel any better. "Relax. It'll be fine. We'll work out a plan of some sort later. First, lets look around, okay?"

Miley nodded, walking slowly out of the room. Glancing over at Oliver as I followed her, I knew exactly what he was thinking. I was thinking it too.

If Miley and Jake weren't together by the end of this fortnight, they'd have killed each other. Those were the only two possible scenarios.

Here's to hoping that it's the first one.

**This is mainly an update for the sake of an update. The exciting stuff will begin in the next chapter.**


	6. We're Friends, Duh

After the grand tour of the house (and a whole lot more squealing from the blonde bimbos – who were really beginning to get on my nerves), everybody seemed to settle in. It was still kind of awkward at times, but I guess that's what you have to expect when you've just been lumped into a situation where you know nobody. Or know only a few people, like in me, Miley and Oliver's case. And I guess in Jake's case too, because he knows us and we know him. But even though most of us had literally only known each other for an hour, friendships were already beginning to form.

Crystal and Brittany had disappeared into their bedroom as soon as we'd all looked around, gushing about comparing clothes. Typical, really. Ryan, Jake and Dylan were talking about sports of some kind. Adam and Oliver were discussing something; I attempted to join in their conversation to begin with, but eventually gave up because I had no idea what they were talking about. Instead, me and Miley sat and tried to decide which of the many movies that we'd been left to occupy ourselves to watch. The only one who didn't seem to be doing anything with somebody else, was Charli, who had retrieved the first Harry Potter book from her bag, and begun reading. Well, if she wanted to be anti-social…

"Okay, well I want to watch Hairspray," Miley said, holding up the colourful DVD box. She seemed to be a different person than the one who had been so worried about the prospect of spending two weeks in a house with Jake Ryan. So she was either coming around to the idea, or she had already come up with a plan to dispose of him. If it was the latter, I hope she'd planned the actual murder in the bathroom. Otherwise the police will have pretty good evidence. "What better way to kickstart a fortnight locked in a house, than with a good old 60s singalong?"

I raised my eyebrows, my fingers still clasped around the box of the film that I wanted to watch: The Bourne Identity. "Um, I can think of a few ideas. Cutting my arm off with a hacksaw, being one of them."

Miley rolled her eyes at me, knowing that I was exaggerating. She knows that I like Hairspray – it might not be my all-time favourite movie, but it doesn't completely suck – and so my insult is pretty much wasted. Downside to being in a house with two people that know you so well. They know when you're lying.

"Miley, we have two weeks to watch Hairspray," I pleaded, before realising that she could just shoot the same argument back at me.

She didn't let me down. "Lilly, you have two weeks to watch The Bourne Identity. And preferably a part of the two weeks when I'm doing something different."

Knowing that we were never going to get anywhere with this argument, I figured that I might as well just give in. Attempting to participate in Adam and Oliver's conversation was more fun than just fighting with Miley about a movie. I threw my DVD down and moved back and sat on the couch next to Oliver, folding my arms. Miley grinned, and took out the Hairspray disc. At least she was happy. I turned my head, beginning to listen to Adam and Oliver talking.

"It was a weird thing to do; apply here. It's not something that I would usually even consider, but Rachel…" Adam trailed off, and then shrugged. "I thought that this might help me attract her attention. She watches this show all the time."

This interested me, and so I leaned forward. "Who's Rachel?"

Adam blushed slightly, looking around the room in an attempt to avoid eye contact. "This girl. She's amazing. Has been in my class ever since elementary school, but still doesn't know that I exist. I'm probably way out of my league, but… I want her to notice me."

Well if she's watching this, she definitely knows him now. Now that he's practically confessed to wanting her to know who he is, on national television. But it is kind of sweet. "Aww, that's really cool. As far as I can tell, she's missing out by not knowing you. Though I have only known you for an hour, so you could be really weird, for all I know."

"Lilly?" Oliver raised his eyebrows at me, and then rolled his eyes. "You just know how to make a person feel better, don't you?"

What? "What? I said that so far, he seems like a really sweet person, that this Rachel girl should want to know. As far as I'm concerned, that's a good thing to say."

"And then you said that he could be really weird. Not generally something you say to people, is it?" Oliver argued back.

I laughed, pushing Oliver lightly. "Oh yeah, because you happen to have a knack for making people feel better, don't you? God Oliver, you hardly have much talent for lifting people's spirits."

"No, no, it's alright! I wish Rachel thought the same way; she's been ignoring me for years. But I can't help it… I've liked her ever since she performed the poem she wrote in 6th grade."

I was going to ask him more, but, obviously sensing this, Adam quickly changed the subject.

"So, what about you guys? How long have you two known each other?"

Oliver laughed and nudged me with his elbow. "Too long. But I just can't get rid of her, because she knows that she wouldn't be able to live without me."

"Gosh, I know. I'm not sure I'd ever be able to survive without the constant annoying remarks ringing in my ear in every moment of every day, not to mention having to live without that face haunting my day-to-day life." I held my hand to my chest and gushed, trying to keep a straight face throughout.

"First of all, I do not make annoying remarks. And second of all, my face doesn't haunt you – you know that you love it when it appears in your dreams." Oliver grinned, playing along.

I painted an innocent expression on my face. "Oh, Oliver. You know as well as I do that when your face appears in anybody's dream, it instantly becomes a nightmare."

"Ooh, burn…" Oliver said, licking his finger and then holding it up in the air, making a sizzling noise as he did so. That was always his comeback when he couldn't think of anything else to say. Whenever he utters those words, you know you've won the argument.

Adam watched this interaction with amusement, laughing at Oliver's last comment. "Well I must confess, you guys are very good together."

"Huh?" Both me and Oliver asked at the same time, neither of us sounding quite as horrified as I'd expected. Not that that meant anything, because hello, I've been hearing it for ages. And I probably just overestimated Oliver's horrified reaction.

"Oh, are you not together? Sorry… I just assumed…" Adam said, looking slightly embarrassed.

Oliver shook his head, shrugging. "Nope, we aren't a couple. Just best friends, as we have been since kindergarten. But don't worry – I'm sure you aren't the first person to think that."

"Just the first person to actually come out and say it," I laughed, turning back to the television, not wanting to be involved in this conversation anymore. Miley had started the movie, and was sat cross-legged in front of the TV absorbing the music.

"I didn't mean… sorry…" Adam was still apologising, obviously not wanting us to hate him. Though why we'd stop talking to him just because he assumed something that was untrue, I don't know. It wasn't his fault that me and Oliver were close enough to be a couple, was it?

Not that we were. We're friends, duh.

Oliver laughed at the stuttering coming from the other boy, and waved his hand, showing that he wasn't bothered by it. "No worries. So, what sort of comics are you into, Adam?"

Glad that the conversation was moving on, even if it was onto a topic that I knew practically nothing about, I focussed all my attention onto the movie. It was better than contemplating whether everybody that we ever met assumed that me and Oliver were a couple.

_Good morning Baltimore, every day is an opening door…_

I'd rather be watching The Bourne Identity.

**This chapter was for the amusement of Sara (BeMySpiderman), so I hope she likes it. And I'll try and update soon.**


	7. Dancing In The Rain

"Lilly!" A voice called my name from somewhere in the house, but because of the distance between me and whoever it was, I couldn't tell who yelled it. Immediately deciding that it wasn't any of the people that I'd only just met, I narrowed it down to Oliver, Jake and Miley. Part of me kinda hoped it was Oliver.

I was sat on the couch in the living room, on the third morning of being locked in the house, reading one of the books that I'd brought with me. The way I saw it, two weeks in a house with nothing else to do meant that I'd have a lot of time to catch up on my reading. Tilting my head back, I looked over at the door which was at an upside-down angle. "In here!"

The rest of the group were still sleeping, seeing as it was nine in the morning, and apparently all the other people they'd selected to be in the house weren't morning people. Oh, and then there was Miley, but she was in the bathroom, talking on the cell phone that she'd snuck in. She and her dad have had to make some excuses on why Hannah Montana has disappeared for two weeks.

It was Oliver who walked into the room, stopping in the doorway and watching me with a weird look on his face for a few seconds (well... I was sat on the couch with my head tilted over the back of it to look at the door... which was still upside down) before jumping over the back of the couch and sitting next to me. "I'm bored."

"So what exactly do you expect me to do about that?" I asked, glancing back at my book and making a mental note of the page I was on. Just a feeling that I wouldn't be reading much more right now.

"I don't know, but hopefully something. Because if it's like this on the third day... can you imagine how the rest of the fortnight is going to go?" Oliver shrugged, and pulled a face as he thought about the prospect of spending another eleven days in this place. Which, considering the fact that he seemed to be all for it, was kind of annoying.

I closed the book and put it on the table in front of me. "Okay, well what do you want to do then? Because if you haven't noticed, we're sort of limited on the activities that we can partake in, especially as we're locked in a house. And it's raining outside, so we can't even go into the back garden."

"Wait. There's a back garden? Since when?" Oliver asked, sitting up slightly straighter at this apparently new piece of information.

"Um... yes. There is a back garden. What did you think those glass doors in the kitchen led out to? A theme park?" I wrinkled my nose, wondering how he'd missed something so blatantly obvious. Well, it's typical Oliver.

He shrugged, and then looked out the window. "It's not raining too bad. Come on, let's go outside."

"What?" I asked, watching him as he stood up and held out his hand to pull me up too. "Why? It's raining."

"And since when did rain hurt you?" Oliver replied, looking back at me with amusement.

"Since global warming," I retorted, folding my arms in what I hoped would be a smart-ass way. You know, instead of it just looking like I was being stupid. "Hello, have you ever heard of acid rain?"

Oliver laughed at me, shaking his hand in front of my face to try and get me to take it. "I doubt that the rain outside will be acid rain. It'll just be boring water; the kind that doesn't burn holes in your skin."

I didn't think that acid rain actually burnt holes in your skin... but hey, how should I know? Science lessons can be kind of distracting when you sit behind Oliver. And when paper balls are constantly flying at your head telling you to stop staring at him, when you totally aren't. I mean, is it my fault that his head is in front of the board? No. No, it isn't.

I couldn't think of any other excuses to get out of going and standing in the rain, so groaned and took his hand. "Fine."

He pulled me up, and then dragged me through the house to the kitchen. Although I was reluctant to let go of his hand I obviously had to in order to get outside, and when I pressed my palm to the sensor on the door, the glass slid open.

Oliver was outside within seconds, getting drenched before my eyes, and he turned back to watch me linger in the doorway. "Are you coming out here or not?"

"It's raining," I replied, knowing that this wouldn't change anything. If it hadn't worked when we were inside, it wasn't going to work now.

Oliver's eye roll confirmed this, and he took a step toward me. "Lilly, step outside now."

I shook my head, resisting the urge to laugh. "No."

"Lilly! Embrace the rain!" Oliver yelled, folding his arms and glaring at me. At least, I think he was glaring, but it was kind of hard to tell because of the raindrops that were falling past his face.

"No!" I yelled back, still standing in the doorway, watching him getting wetter by the second.

I probably should have known, but I didn't actually guess what Oliver was about to do until he lunged forward, grabbing me and pulling me out into the rain. It took a mere three milliseconds before I was practically drenched but I couldn't escape his grasp. "Oliver! Get off me! Oh my god, I hate you! Oliver!"

Twisting and turning, I couldn't get away from him, even though I'm usually a whole lot stronger than him. So, I resorted to screaming and yelling as I got increasingly soaked. "Let go of me!"

"No," he muttered in my ear, which would have usually made me annoyed, but my reaction this time was that of laughter.

This evidently wasn't what he was expecting, and so loosened his grip on me. In that moment, I broke free and ran over to the other side of the garden, laughing and dancing. "I'm free, I'm free, I'm free!"

Oliver laughed at me, looking around. "God I hope that camera was on. Imagine people all over America watching you dancing in the garden at nine in the morning."

Surprisingly I wasn't even bothered by this. In fact, for a lot of the last three days, I've hardly even noticed the cameras. And this time was no different. When you're having fun, you barely even notice that everything you do is being filmed and then broadcast on TV screens all over the country. "So what if it was?"

"Wow. Who are you and what have you done with Lilly Truscott? My best friend? The girl that I've known ever since kindergarten? The girl who would hate being on TV dancing in the rain?" Oliver said, moving toward me.

"Hey. You dragged me out here. Not my fault. And if you can't beat them, join them."

"True. Very true," Oliver said, completely dripping wet by now. His hair was stuck to his face, and his clothes were stuck to him and everything. If I didn't know better I'd say that he'd been working out, but the idea of Oliver and exercise together is laughable.

I laughed and twirled around on the spot. It might have been nine in the morning, but because of the dark clouds above, it wasn't totally light. And the high fence around the house that blocked out most of the surroundings spoiled the view somewhat. But hey, I had a pretty good view right here. And I'm not talking about the scenery.

"Guys?" Miley's head appeared at the door and she looked out at us with a look of incredulity on her face. "What the heck are you doing out here? Didn't you realise it's raining?"

Oliver turned around and looked at her, shaking his head. "Oh, is that what this wet stuff is?"

"Wow, you learn something new every day," I joined in, holding my hands out and feeling the raindrops on the palm of my hand.

Miley stood in the doorway, her arms folded. "Am I interrupting something?"

I was glad of the absence of sunlight at that time, because I could feel the blush on my cheeks. No point in denying it anymore. There's something weird about Oliver now... or maybe something weird about me. Maybe this stuff that Miley has been suggesting for the last few years - you know, that I _like_ Oliver - is true. Maybe...

"Nope. Just Lilly dancing in the rain," Oliver said back to Miley, totally oblivious to my sudden enlightenment. "But I'm sure you'll be able to see it on the internet when we get out of here."

Miley laughed and stepped outside slightly, the rain falling on her as it found a new victim to soak. "Well, are you coming back inside?"

"Yeah... I don't think there's a part of me that isn't wet," Oliver said, and turned back to me.

I resisted the temptation to laugh (oh come on, I'm immature, get over it) and nodded. "Yeah. Just coming."

Suddenly aware of how cold the rain was making me, I began walking toward the house, where Miley had stepped back inside and out of the rain. She wasn't nearly as wet as me or Oliver, but then again she'd only been outside for about a minute. Whereas we'd been outside for God knows how long.

Just as I reached the door, I turned back around to glance at Oliver, who was still stood where I'd passed him. "What's up with you? Rain frozen your feet to the ground?"

He seemed to snap out of a trance, shaking his head and looking at me properly. "What? No. Coming in now."

"Okay," I replied, and smiled at him before stepping back into the house and realising I was dripping all over the place. "I think I need to go and get dry..."

Miley laughed. "There's a few more people up. They probably heard you screaming. I thought you were getting attacked! And then I looked outta the window and saw that you were out there with Oliver..."

"Yeah, he sort of pulled me out," I said as I walked through the living room to get to the bedroom. Where I could get out of the wet clothes.

"Wow, look what the cat dragged in," an annoying voice came from the corner of the room, and I didn't even have to turn around to tell that it was Brittany.

I glanced over at her, and then over my shoulder. "Gosh, that darned cat. Someone should teach it to stop dragging things into the house."

Walking through the room, I smiled at Adam who was flicking through a comic, and then made it to the bedroom, where only Crystal was still asleep. I picked up some clothes that weren't soaking wet from the rain and walked through to the bathroom. I stared into the mirror that was mounted on the wall and leaned against the sink, closing my eyes.

What had happened to me? Since when had I thought of Oliver that way? How long had I been in denial about the fact that I wanted my best friend to be more than that?

I turned on the tap and took a deep breath. I shouldn't worry about it. I could be wrong. This could just be a side effect of being imprisoned in a house for two weeks and not knowing everyone else. Or it could just be... me being weird. Yeah. That was it. I was just being weird.

Glancing in the mirror again, I stared into my own eyes as though attempting to convince myself. Then I pushed a hand through my wet hair, and began to change out of my wet clothes.


	8. Anywhere But Here

"Um... Lilly? Can I talk to you?"

I was walking past the boys bedroom, making my way to the girls bedroom so that I could get changed into my pyjamas when someone spoke to me from inside the other room. Backtracking a little, I looked inside to see Adam sat on one of the beds, watching me.

"Sure thing Adam! What's up?" I bounded in and sat next to him on the bed. What could he want to talk about?

He shrugged. "I don't know... it'll sound stupid."

The look on his face was so glum, that I knew that I couldn't just leave it. He obviously wasn't very happy. "Aww, come on Adam. You won't sound stupid. Not to me anyway, because you should hear some of the things that I say. If I laughed at you for saying something stupid – though I highly doubt you're going to even say something like that – then I'd be being sort of hypocritical." I moved closer to him, looking at him in what I hoped was a concerned, yet nice way.

This seemed to make him feel slightly better, and he smiled at me quickly before his face fell again. "Okay, well I was thinking... what if I've come here, to try and impress Rachel, and she still doesn't notice me?"

Sigh. Adam must really like this girl. And I have to say, I've never met her, but she seems to be the opposite of him. The type of person who doesn't have much regard for people who aren't in her social circle. But like I want to say this to him. That would be like walking into church and claiming that God isn't real. I'd probably get killed, or something. I smiled at him sympathetically, putting one of my hands on his knee. So I'd really only just met this guy – we'd known each other for what, four days? But I already felt close to him. "Adam... I'm sure she'll have noticed you. I don't know anybody who would go on a TV show to try and impress me. And so if this girl is anything like me, then she'll be totally flattered. But... if she isn't, then maybe she isn't worth it. I'm sure she will be though!"

"But I've loved Rachel for years. Ever since that day in English class where she read out that poem. I want her to notice me..." I could detect the yearning in his voice, and I hoped to God that if Rachel – whoever the hell she was – was watching, she'd be able to hear that too.

I sighed again, and then smiled at him. "Well you know what, I think that if she doesn't notice you, then she's missing out. In fact, you know what?" I got up and looked around, trying to find the camera that was currently filming us. Spotting it in the corner, I walked over to it and looked right up into it.

"What are you doing?" Adam asked, the curiosity evident in his voice.

I laughed, and waved at the camera. "Okay Rachel? If you are watching me right now, then you have to know that this guy – Adam Zimmerman – is totally nutso about you. And he's an amazing guy, and if you don't talk to him after this, then the joke is on you. Okay?" Turning back to Adam, I smiled at him. "Okay?"

He laughed, nodding. "Okay. I guess I can't do anything more than that."

"No. You can't. But you know what, from what I've heard, I think that this Rachel girl would be mad not to like you. And if it doesn't work out with her, there'll probably be another million teenage girls who just watched me declare how amazing you were."

Adam laughed again. "True. Thanks Lilly."

"No problem," I said, walking over to him again. "Now, I think that I have an obligation to invite you to our movie night."

"Movie night?"

I nodded, sitting back down for a second. "Yep. And if I'm not mistaken, it's Miley's turn to select our movies. Most people are joining in, though I don't think Dylan and Ryan are all that interested. And Crystal and Brittany don't want to, though I'm pretty sure they're having more fun making themselves look like clowns. Oliver and Jake are watching them. And I think Charli might be too."

Resistance was pretty much futile, and I think that Adam realised this, because minutes later we were all back in the living room, me in my pyjamas and sitting between Adam and Oliver. Miley was picking the DVDs.

"Miley! What's the theme today?" Oliver called, glancing at me as he did so.

She didn't even look up. "Romance."

"I knew it!" I cried, at the same time as Oliver said: "I told you!"

Adam wrinkled his nose and looked at us. "Huh?"

"Every Friday night, me, Oliver and Miley have a movie night. It's our tradition. But because we all like different sorts of movies, we had to come to some sort of compromise," I began to explain.

"So each week we take it in turns to pick movies that fall into a certain theme. Like... one of Lilly's personal favourites is 'Matt Damon movies'. We have to endure about five hours of Matt Damon," Oliver said, faking annoyance.

I rolled my eyes. "Um, you like most Matt Damon movies. The Bourne movies are nearly always involved in your theme in some way."

Oliver ignored me, due to the fact that he knew I had a point, and carried on. "Anyway, Miley always picks from the same three themes."

"Which are?" Adam asked, obviously amused by me and Oliver. I can't say I blamed him. We're generally amusing people.

"Romance." I stated, managing to get as much contempt into the word as possible. It isn't that I don't like romance movies... they just get tedious after watching five hours of people kissing and delcaring their love for one another. It's all so cliche.

"Musicals." Oliver said, in a similar tone to the one I'd just used. Yeah, he isn't the biggest fan of people suddenly bursting into song. He finds it weird.

"And Disney." I completed the trio, shrugging.

Oliver groaned at the last one, looking at me. "The last one is the worst. There is only so many times you can watch Cinderella before you go insane."

"We've seen Bambi a total of twenty seven times." I told Adam, rolling my eyes as I said it.

We didn't even have to look at each other. Both me and Oliver started quoting – complete with actions and expression - at the exact same moment: "Eating greens is a special treat, it makes long ears and great big feet, but it sure is awful stuff to eat. I made that last part up myself."

Adam started laughing at that. "Do you guys rehearse that or something?"

"We don't need to rehearse it, dude! We've seen the movie twenty-seven times! Twenty-seven times!" Oliver cried, throwing his arms in the air as Jake entered the room.

"Have we picked the movies yet?" The celebrity asked, looking at Miley.

They'd seemed to break through the awkwardness that had surrounded them for the first few days, and were now acting in an almost civil way towards each other.

"Almost. Okay, I have two. You've Got Mail and Serendipity. But I want another one, just to make it five hours, like usual." Miley said, glancing up at Jake.

I tilted my head, leaning it on Oliver's shoulder slightly. He looked down at me, a weird expression on his face – I couldn't quite distinguish what he was feeling. "What are you doing?"

Lifting my head, I looked at him. "Making sure your shoulder is comfortable. So that if I fall asleep halfway through these movies then it's not like I'm lying on a rock."

Oliver laughed, raising his eyebrows. "And was it comfortable?"

"It'll do," I shrugged, resuming my leaning against him.

Miley seemed to be taking forever to pick a third movie, and I have to confess that I was just about to fall asleep on Oliver shoulder - because it was so damn comfortable – but then she was clapping and telling everybody to get ready to watch. The popcorn that we'd made earlier was taken out of the microwave, the lights were turned down, and Miley took the last available seat on the couch (next to Jake, might I add... and she didn't even shoot me that look of complaint as she sat down...) before pressing play on the remote.

We might have been locked in a house, while everything we were doing was being broadcasted on television across the globe, but I honestly didn't care. I'd made a new friend, I was sat watching movies like we always did on Friday night, and I was sitting next to Oliver. Heck, I was leaning my head on Oliver's shoulder, which I definitely didn't do on a regular basis.

I could safely say that I don't want to be anywhere but here.


	9. How Does Everyone Know

I woke up the next morning much later than I usually did. Probably because even after everybody else went to bed, me, Oliver, Miley, Jake and Adam sat up doing nothing in particular. I seem to remember Miley finding a Scrabble board and us all sitting around it making up words. Rambly Fleurknack. That was one of Oliver's. I have no idea how I even remember that; I just do. So yeah, I opened my eyes and saw that the bed next to me was empty. As was, when I sat up to look around, every other bed. Ugh. How did I oversleep that much?

The room wasn't vacant though. Although I definitely wish that it was, because nobody wants to wake up to that sight. Over by the big mirror that lined one of the walls, was Brittany, putting on her makeup in order to supply the nation of America with their daily dosage of clown.

"Oh good," she said, spotting me out of the corner of her eye as she pasted blue eyeshadow all over her eyes. "You're awake." She didn't sound as though it were all that good that I was awake though.

I rolled my eyes, before leaning back against my pillow and replying. "Oh really? I was under the impression that I'd fallen into a nightmare."

"Finally saw yourself in the mirror, did you?" she replied, without even blinking at my comment. Ugh. I hated her. Even more so because I couldn't think of anything to say back that would make me sound witty.

Rolling my eyes again, I pushed back the covers and swung my legs out of bed, intending to go and find someone that wouldn't insult me after I'd been awake for all of thirty seconds. Where was Oliver?

"No, Lilly. Wait. I wanted to ask you something." Brittany said, putting down the brush that was loaded with blue powder, and turning to me.

"Oh really?" I asked, trying to keep the curiosity out of my voice and sound as nonchalant as I possibly could. As soon as Brittany Walsh implies that she wants to ask me something, I immediately want to know what it is. Because it probably isn't good news.

She nodded, and stood up, a simpering smile playing on her lips. "Yeah. I wanted to talk to you about you and your friend. Oliver. What's the deal between you guys?"

"The deal?" I queried, my heart suddenly beating faster. What a bitch! She could not be implying what I think she's implying. She just can't. There is absolutely no way that she can want to be with Oliver. She just... oh my God, she knows. She must know. Because otherwise she would not be doing this. She's only saying this because she wants to freak me out.

"Yeah. Are you guys... y'know?" She waved her hand, as though she didn't actually want to say the words. Because she wanted me to say them. That's why.

I shook my head, trying to keep my face as blank as possible. "No. We're not... y'know." Mimicking her voice, I smiled back. "We're friends."

The surprise on her face was evident for about a millisecond, before her expression softened again. Well, I say softened, but there was a sparkle in her eye that told me I hadn't finished this yet. She didn't believe me. "Oh. Okay then. Well, thanks for clearing that up."

"No problem," I said coldly, before walking over to the door and stepping out into the corridor, closing it like a barrier behind me. Then I leaned up against it, closing my eyes and letting out a deep breath. Why had she just asked me that? Did she actually like Oliver, or was she just trying to play mind games with me? Because if it was the mind games, then that's low. And if it's that she actually likes Oliver... well I can't think about that.

Because, when you think about it, who would pick me over Brittany Walsh? I mean, even if she does seem to be in constant competition with the clowns of the world, she's gorgeous. And I think that it's safe to say that while Oliver is amazing, he is slightly shallow. So why would he pick me, over Brittany?

Ugh.

I stood up straight and glanced back at the door, realising that the other girl could exit the room at any time. And if she found me, still loitering in the corridor outside the door, then she might become even more suspicious. Though like I care. If she likes Oliver, then they'll end up together. It's how it always works in cases like these. So, in order to erase any chance of Brittany finding me still out here, I took another breath and began walking down the corridor to try and find out where the rest of them were. Maybe talking to Adam and Oliver for a while would take my mind off of things.

Or maybe it wouldn't.

--

Adam sat down opposite me later that day as I sat reading my book. I shot him a quick smile before looking back down at the page and scanning the words in front of me. He seemed to want something, because all he did was sit there watching me, and so I eventually put the book down on the table and leaned forward, my eyebrows raised. "What do you want Adam?"

"Me? Want? What could I possibly want?" Adam rambled, sounding so unconvincing it was unbelievable. The look on my face obviously told him this, and so he sighed almost immediately. "Okay, Miley sent me to talk to you."

I wrinkled my nose, and moved my head slightly to one side. "And why couldn't she talk to me herself? Has she lost the power of speech? Or is she just refraining from moving her mouth because there's only one thing she can think of doing with it - kissing Jake - and she doesn't want to move it in case it makes her do just that?"

"Wait? Miley and Jake?" Adam asked, getting sidetracked. That was the thing with Adam. Distracted easily.

"You mean you haven't noticed the glances between them both? You haven't noticed the tension between them both? I mean, it was understandable, what with their long and detailed history. But they so are meant to be together and I'm just getting so annoyed with the fact that they cannot both see it! I mean, Miley knows she loves him, but she's scared that he doesn't love her. And it's the same with Jake. Yet for everyone else, it's so blatantly obvious that they both love each other! Can't the other one just see it in the other's eyes?" I ranted, totally getting off the initial point. Which was that everybody had to have noticed the wistful looks between them both.

Adam had raised his eyebrows during my rant, and was now looking at me as though I was missing something. As though I'd said something incredibly stupid. Which I don't think I had...

"What?" I asked.

"Did you just hear what you just said?" Adam asked, leaning back on his chair. "I mean, color you hypocritical."

Oh my God. He knows too! HOW DOES EVERYONE KNOW?

"Come on Lilly. It's like you just said. Everyone else can tell that you and Oliver... well, you're meant to be together." Adam almost read my mind, though I guess the shock was there in my face.

I couldn't think of anything to say, for the second time that day. Why was this whole experience rendering me speechless all the time? I hated this place!

"We all see it. It's just you and Oliver... you're both in denial. Or you're both scared. But really, there's nothing to be scared of. I came on national TV and declared my love for Rachel. I think you guys can confess to each other that you like the other one. Especially seeing as you both adore each other and are supposed to be together. We all know it." Adam said, trying to sound encouraging. But I don't know how effective he was. Because I was still freaking out over the fact that he knew.

Somewhere along the line though, his words seemed to sink in, and I sighed. So he knew. They all knew. And deep down, I knew it. So why wasn't I doing something about it? It made sense, didn't it? And they all seemed to think that Oliver liked me too...

"Are you going to say something?"

I took a breath and then shrugged. "You're right. I know. God, I'm such a hypocrite. But I guess... when it's you..."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"Do I have to?" I asked, looking at Adam sheepishly.

Adam grinned and nodded. "Yeah. You do. I've decided."

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Okay. I tell you what: I'll tell him tomorrow night, providing that you, Miley, Jake and anybody else who is in on this master plan doesn't say a word about it to me until then."

Adam sat back even further, the grin even wider on his face. "I cannot argue with that. Seems like the best deal I'll ever get."

"Oh it is," I replied, picking up my book again. "It is."

I'd begun to read once again, and was halfway down my page, when Adam cleared his throat.

"So, what are you going to say?" he asked, looking curious.

I laughed and shook my head. "That would be talking about it."

"Damn."

I laughed again, masking the weight that had settled in my stomach. Oh my God. Was I really going to do this? Really? Oh wow.

Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow.

**Rushed. Rubbish. Really sorry. This was a filler, and I'm getting onto the part of the plot that I'm going to love writing because the end is in sight. THIS IS THE FIFTH DAY IN THE HOUSE. I just had to make that clear. The timing is important, because I'll need to work it all out, and not have too many nights and whatnot. **

**Anyway, review. Because I'm going to Germany tomorrow morning, and would like to come back on Sunday to some awesome comments! **


	10. Cry Without The Cameras

How did I get myself into this? Why the hell did I say that I'd tell him tonight? Even if it did get Miley and Jake and Adam and... whoever else was in on it off of my back for a bit. I still have to tell him! Like... within the next six hours. Because it is now seven o'clock at night, and if I do not tell him before midnight... well, I have no idea what will happen. But it can't be good. Miley is not a person to cross. She might kill me or something. Not good.

I lean back against the bathtub. The bathroom is actually an ideal place to come to escape. There are TV cameras everywhere else, so where else am I going to get a bit of peace and quiet? It might seem weird, but seriously, it isn't. Not when you've spent about a week in a house. Six days. Whatever.

My face looks back at me in the mirror opposite me, and the dawning of what I was going to do fell upon me again. It keeps coming back to me, in waves. Waves of total and utter fear. No matter how many times Adam tries to reassure me, I still have this dreading feeling hanging over me. Like a rain cloud or something.

See, Oliver has been my best friend forever. He really has. And I could be about to ruin all of that by saying a few little sentences. I don't know if I'll be able to deal if that happens. So honestly, all the reassurance in the world won't help. He could laugh at me. He could be totally mortified by what I say. He could never want to talk to me again. Or... he could love it. He could want it to happen. And then in a few months, he could totally change his mind, break up with me and then we'd drift apart and never speak again. Which would be much worse than anything else.

I groaned, and shut my eyes, sliding down to sit on the tiled bathroom floor. "What have I gotten myself into?"

A bang on the door made my eyes snap open, and I rolled my eyes at the voice that followed it.

"Lilly! I know you're in there, and I know what you're hiding from, and I know that you cannot stay in there forever!" Miley yelled, still banging. God, did she think I was suddenly deaf?

"What is it Miley?" I called back after a few seconds of mulling over how to handle this. I couldn't look like I was hiding, because then she might try and help. And no offence to Miley, but when she tries to help... things don't always go smoothly. I mean, I love her, but she isn't the smoothest of people. Her plans always make life interesting.

"I could ask you the same question! Don't make me get Jake to break down the door. He's a zombie slayer, and he will do it!" Miley threatened, though I think she intended it to sound a whole lot more threatening than it did. Jake may act like a zombie slayer, but I highly doubt that he'll break down a door if it could mean messing up his hair. Or breaking a nail.

I almost said that. But managed to resist at the last minute. "I'm coming out in a second. Jeez, can't a girl get some privacy when she's in the bathroom anymore?"

"Not when she's totally hiding," Miley said, and I knew that she was just about to set up camp outside the door until I ventured outside.

Ugh.

I got up, took one last look in the mirror, and then pulled open the door, looking at her expectantly. "What?"

"Are you going to be social today, or is the scenery in the bathroom better than looking at everyone here?" Miley asked, one eyebrow raised.

I bit my lip, hiding a smirk. "Do you honestly want me to answer that question?"

She didn't answer, just rolled her eyes at me, grabbed my arm and pulled me to the door of the living room, where I assumed everyone else was hanging out, watching TV or something.

Before we stepped into the room, I managed to wrench my arm from her grip and stop still.

"What is it?" she asked, though I'm not sure why she had to.

"I'll give you one guess," I replied, a slight sarcastic tone to my voice. Was I nervous? Nervous as hell.

Miley sighed, and turned to look at me, sympathy evident in her eyes. "Adam told me everything. And I know that I'm just as bad as you, believe me. But I made a promise to myself that if you could tell Oliver, then I could tell Jake. So tell him! You have nothing to be nervous about."

Oh. Well that's just great. So now if I don't tell Oliver, then my best friend may never be in her perfect relationship. But, if I do tell Oliver, then all of those horrible scenarios that have been running through my head in the last twenty-four hours may become a reality. Talk about pressure.

This was obviously evident in my face, and she sighed again. "Lilly. I know that I suck as far as relationships are concerned, and that hello! I should just tell Jake that I like him. But I think that I'm thinkin' the same things that you are. And I can safely tell you that you do not have to worry about any of them."

"Neither do you," I muttered.

"I just... I've seen this between you guys for so long. And I promised myself that I'd do something about it in this house. Hell, it was what got us into this house. So... I wanted to ensure it happened. Hence... this whole thing."

I rolled my eyes, but resigned myself to my fate. So, stepping in front of her, I pushed open the door to the room.

And stopped dead.

There, right in front of me, was Crystal deep in conversation with Oliver. And, just as everyone else had noticed my presence in the room, Crystal Amstell leaned forward and kissed Oliver Oken.

Dammit.

I didn't stick around long enough to see anything else. Barging past Miley and her shocked expression, I practically ran down the corridor, and back into the sanctuary of the bathroom.

Where I could cry without the cameras.

**Update very soon. Very, very soon. Possibly even tonight, because even though I have an exam tomorrow, there are too many creative buzzes in my brain right now.**


	11. Stupid, Smelly Square One

The ramming on the door didn't stop. First there was Miley, but when I ignored her, there was Jake. He was obviously getting the message; I hadn't said a word since he'd taken over from his girlfriend, and hopefully he'd leave soon. Leave me alone.

I was sat on the floor, leaning against the bathtub again. I'd locked the door when I came in, but taken the little key out and was twirling it in my hands. When I'd first retreated to the bathroom, I'd been expecting to cry and not stop for a long time. But that hadn't happened. I was just staring at the little key in my hand, twirling it around.

The knocking stopped, Jake's voice lowered and I could tell that he was talking to someone else outside the door. Praying that it wasn't Oliver, I moved my head slightly towards the direction of the wooden frame, trying to hear anything. Anything at all. What I heard was low muttering. Which was just great, because I could distinguish who was speaking and what they were saying. Ugh.

Ugh.

Ugh.

Ughughugh!

Why was everything so messed up? Why, when I was planning on confessing everything to Oliver, did that Crystal skank have to go and ruin everything? She was just a big, fat, stinking... ruiner. That's what she was.

The muttering stopped, and there was suddenly a silence outside the bathroom door. Great. Maybe they've all finally realised that I was not going to open the door, and that they may as well just save their knuckles from bleeding.

What was I going to do? I'd been so close. So close! And then the ruiner had to go and mess it all up, and so now I was back to square one. I didn't like being on square one. In fact, I hated it. Square one was not a comfortable place to be. I'd rather be on square ninety-nine, and have to only roll a one on the dice to win. That was a better square. Instead of stupid, smelly square one.

God, what the hell is this? Why am I thinking such random things, when there is evidently one thing I should be thinking about? Why am I thinking about squares and board games and dice? Stupid.

"So are you planning on coming out at some point?" A voice from the other side of the door made me jump. I hadn't heard anyone approaching, but it had been silent for a few minutes, so I assumed...

_Never assume, Lilly. Never assume, because then you make an ass out of u and me. Duh._

Realising a few seconds later that it was the voice of Adam, I sighed, loud enough so that he could hear it through the wooden door. "Well actually, I was thinking that the crack under the door is enough to slide some food under. Y'know... if you slice everything really thinly."

"I'm not sure that'd work. You have no idea how many people have walked over that floor with their muddy shoes, and bacteria infested feet. Personally, I wouldn't eat anything that had been slid under a door that we didn't know." Adam answered, his voice kinda muffled by the wood.

"How can you know a door?" I replied, my voice cracking slightly. Was this why he was talking to me? So that he could have a conversation about the state of the door? I'd always thought he was a weird one.

Adam laughed slightly. "I guess you can't."

Silence resumed for a few more seconds, before: "So... you wanna talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" I feigned, unsuccessfully. The worst liar in the world couldn't have sounded less believable than me right then. Of course I knew what he wanted to talk about - or was asking me if I wanted to talk about. It was blatantly obvious!

"You know what," he replied, obviously not wanting to push me into speaking.

Figuring that another few seconds of pretence wouldn't hurt, I tried to make my voice sound more convincing. "What, what?"

"Lilly."

I sighed again, leaning my head against the edge of the bathtub, and having to resist the urge to bang it against the object. "What is there to talk about?"

"You know that she kissed him, don't you? That he didn't initiate it in any way?" Adam said, choosing to ignore my games.

"He didn't exactly put up a fight though, did he?" I shot back, my voice cracking again. God Lilly, don't cry! I half wanted Adam to disagree with me; to tell me that I was being stupid and that I could go in there and tell him how I felt, and that this was all a minor setback. But even if he had told me that, I'm not sure I'd have been able to do it. I kept seeing them in my mind, and she was kissing him, and he was kissing her and... UGH.

"You didn't exactly stick around to see what he did," Adam retorted, obviously attempting to change my mind. Not that that was going to happen. I mean, I know that Adam has just met me and all, but you'd think that he would know that I was stubborn.

I rolled my eyes before closing them. "How could I? I didn't want to stand there and watch that."

"Lilly..." Adam began, but I cut him off.

"Adam, I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to get me to go back in there and tell him. But I can't do that now, because I cannot get that image out of my head." I argued, and I heard him leaning his head back on the door. He was obviously sat outside the door.

Adam sighed again. "Lilly, I saw it. And I know how that feels. God, I've seen Rachel kiss enough guys. But I still like her. Because maybe... just maybe, she'll like me now that I've told her. You never know until you try."

If I hadn't just watched Oliver kiss Crystal, and hadn't been replying the scene over and over in my head, he might have made sense. But I had, and so he didn't. "I know. I watched it. He likes her. And I'm the complete opposite, so how can he like me?"

No answer came, and I waited for a few minutes, waiting for his reply. Had he gone? Had he given up? My eyes opened and I was just considering getting up and opening the door to see whether he had gone, when a scratching came from the keyhole, and suddenly the door swung open. My eyes widened in surprise as Adam stood in the doorway, smiling at me sympathetically.

"I'm sorry..." he said, looking at me.

I smiled slightly back, shrugging. "It's not your fault, is it?"

"It isn't. It's yours. For not telling him. Because Lilly, I promise you, that he likes you. No matter how many girls like Crystal that he kisses, it will always be obvious to everyone around you." Adam stepped in the bathroom, and kicked the door shut behind him.

Why didn't he see what I saw?

I shook my head. "Well, tell me what you want Adam, but I can't believe you right now."

Sitting down beside me, he put an arm around my shoulders. "Lilly, as your friend, I am telling you that I speak the truth. And you may not see it yourself right now, and you may not be able to tell him at this point in time. But you will. I promise. You will."

"Whatever you say." I didn't want to argue with him anymore, because I had a feeling that we could go around in circles forever. So, leaning my head on his shoulder, I didn't say anything else. Until a few seconds later. "Adam?"

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Thanks."

Adam smiled. "It's not a problem. You know I'm right."

I didn't. But that was okay. He was there, and that was all that mattered.

**Yes, this will still be a Loliver - I'm not planning on making Adam or Lilly fall in love with the other one.**

**And! If you're a Loliver fan, check out the Loliver forum. We're planning on having a Loliver fanfiction day later on this month, and want to raise awareness! So there's a thread in the forum with the rest of the details, or you can just review here and ask what's going on. I'll send you the details!**


	12. Scream Into My Pillow

It was my turn to make dinner. Since the events of the previous night, I'd been attempting to avoid all contact with other human beings. And Brittany and Crystal, but I don't think that they count as human beings really. Or they're just not fully evolved yet. Or they're robots. Yeah, like that really hot guy on Heroes says. You're either an alien or a robot. Me and Oliver had always said that we were aliens. Me and Oliver. But there was no me and Oliver anymore. Plus, I think that kissing a robot automatically makes you a robot.

I pulled some spaghetti out of one of the cupboards and flung it on the counter. Sadness had been replaced by anger, and I evidently wasn't very good at hiding it. So I was taking it out on sticks of pasta. Walking over to the fridge, I grabbed some tomato sauce and meatballs and dropped both of these items into a pot.

"Hey stranger," a very unwelcome voice piped up, not exactly helping my anger any. God, I was mad at him!

I chose to ignore him, hoping that he'd figure out that I was annoyed with him and why, before I used this pasta sauce for something other than eating.

"I feel like I haven't spoken to you in days," he carried on, completely oblivious to the 'go away' vibes that I was shooting his way.

"Your feelings are wrong then. We spoke yesterday," I muttered, flinging some salt into the pot that was now bubbling away on the stove.

I risked a glance at him and saw from the look on his face that he'd guessed that something was wrong. Which is a bit of an understatement.

"What's up Lilly?"

What's up? What's up? Nothing really. I mean, I only got convinced to tell you that I love you, but just as I was about to, I walked in on you kissing Ms. I'm-a-TV-star-because-I've-been-on-an-ad-where-I-had-to-talk-to-my-mom-about-sex, and you basically wrenched my heart out of my chest and danced on it, and you don't even know it. But apart from that, I can't complain. Want some pasta?

"Nothing."

Well obviously I wasn'y going to say all of that, was I?

He didn't look convinced, which I'm glad about. At least he didn't lose some brain cells in that kiss.

"Come on Lilly, give me some credit. I've known you for years. I'd like to think that I know when you're upset."

I turned to him, not really thinking what I was going to say through properly. "Well I'd like to think that you had better taste in girls. That you had some standards. But from what I witnessed last night, that obviously isn't true."

The look on his face told me that he hadn't been expecting that, but then again, I'd never seemed to care who he'd kissed before. Why was I suddenly so annoyed over it?

"You're talking about Crystal, right?" he asked, not even bothering to deny it. Not that I'd have believed him anyway, because hello, I saw them. Meaning that it definitely happened. And that not even Oliver could convince me that it didn't.

Turning back around I stirred the sauce, trying not to let my annoyed stirring cause it to go everywhere. Because as much as I'd like to get it all over Oliver, I'd have to start again in order to feed everyone else. And it was bad enough that I had to feed Crystal in the first place, but having to do double the work would make it even more suckish.

"She kissed me," Oliver said, as though trying to prove something to me. Though I'm not sure why. I'm obviously no Crystal.

"Whatever," I replied, pretending that I cared more about the pasta sauce than I did about what he had to say.

He took hold of my arm, pulling it until I faced him. "She. Kissed. Me. No 'whatever' about it."

I pulled my arm out of his grasp and then turned back to the dinner that I was unwillingly making. Picking up another pot, I walked over and filled it with water, then dropped the spaghetti into it and left it to boil. All the while I could feel his gaze on me.

"Why do you even care?" Oliver asked, breaking the silence, his tone more annoyed than it had been minutes ago.

I couldn't even begin to answer that. Not without revealing how I felt, what I'd been about to do yesterday, and a whole bunch of other things that I did not want to say. So I just stayed quiet, as though I hadn't even heard him.

"Huh? Why do you even care what I was doing with Crystal? It isn't really your place to butt in, is it? Why should I care what you think?"

I turned back to him, my arms folded across my chest. "Well, you obviously don't care. I mean, I'm only your best friend who wants the very best for you and can see that Crystal is not it. But hey, why take my advice? Date her, and just watch what happens when she gets bored of you and drops you like that. But don't even think about coming crying to me when that day comes."

"I think that everything you just said is crap," Oliver replied, standing up straight so that he was totally taller than me. "Do you want to know what I think?"

I laughed, but it was deprived of any actual happiness. "I'm sure you're gonna tell me, regardless of what I want."

He had already started talking. "I think that you're jealous. You saw me kissing Crystal and were reminded that the last proper boyfriend that you had was Lucas!"

I had been all ready to reply with something scornful, until he had brought up Lucas. When he said that name I could do nothing but look at him in utter disbelief, before I managed to turn back to the food, which was almost ready. My hands were shaking. I couldn't believe it. We had all agreed never to bring up that name again. Never mention Lucas - the cheater who practically broke my heart - again. Yet he just had. Oliver just had.

Nobody spoke for a few minutes. I just stirred, trying not to think about Oliver or Lucas or Crystal. It all just hurt too much.

"Lilly... I'm so-" Oliver began, but I spun around and cut him off.

"Don't say you're sorry, Oliver Oken, because you're not. If you were, you wouldn't have said it. We agreed - you, me and Miley - to never talk about him again. And yet he's the first thing you think of in an argument? The first thing you come up with to try and hurt me? God Oliver. I thought you were my friend."

He opened his mouth to reply, probably something in the line of a protest, but I didn't let him.

"Don't speak to me Oliver. You'll just put your big foot in it and make everything more worse than it is."

Grabbing a bowl from the side, I put the final arrangements to dinner, drained the water, put everything in and shoved it on the table. All of this done in about a minute. Then I walked over and pulled the door open, almost bumping into Miley, Jake and Adam who obviously hadn't managed to get out of the way and pretend they weren't listening in time.

"Hey Lilly! I suppose you're wondering what we're doing here. Funny story, actually..." Adam started, scratching the side of his face as he searched for inspiration.

I couldn't even be bothered to listen. "Tell everyone that dinner is on the table. Don't let it get cold."

Then, without a glance in Oliver's direction, I began walking up the corridor in the direction of my bedroom.

Miley's voice followed me. "Where are you going?"

"My room!" I replied, not even looking back. "I'm not hungry."

As soon as I got into the sanctuary of the deserted bedroom, I flung myself down on the bed and screamed into the pillow. The bedroom door slammed behind me.

**And so that's it from me. Unless by some miracle I manage to churn out another story, I'd say that my Loliver day contribution is now over. I'm off to read all the other stories! Hope you liked all of mine!**


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